


Barbie & Rambo

by flippantninny



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 21:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2165871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flippantninny/pseuds/flippantninny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eugene can't believe he's the only one who can see what's going on with Barbie and Rambo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Barbie & Rambo

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually the first thing I ever wrote for Bethyl, way back in June.

"I’m hungry." Eugene said, "When’ll Barbie and Rambo be back."

  
Rick laughed. Barbie and Rambo; they were surprisingly accurate names for the hunter and his young friend. “Daryl won’t stay out past nightfall, I’m sure they’ll be back soon,” he said, glancing at the sky. The sun was getting lower, and if it were anyone but Daryl he would be concerned, but the area was almost clear of walkers and the man was the best hunter and tracker Rick had ever met. He could handle a day long hunting trip, and it was nice of him to bring Beth along. Since they’d found her after Terminus he’d be protective of her, and she’d been eager to learn how to survive, so it made sense he was teaching her to hunt. If Rick was being honest, he was surprised that Daryl was so open to teaching her, but he put it down to guilt over her being taken and the weird bond they had formed between the fall of the prison and her kidnapping. No one really asked about what had happened between them, all they knew was that a house had been burned down and they were planning on living in a funeral home.

  
The entire group was sat around a firepit. It wasn’t lit, they saw no reason to waste fire wood, but it was a good place to sit and talk and plan. They’d spent the morning working, digging pits around their camp and cleaning clothes. It was nice to have an afternoon for everyone to sit and chat. Everyone except Beth and Daryl, who had left early in the morning in hopes of tracking a deer. They’d been hunting together almost every day that week, but the best they’d managed to come home with was squirrels and people were beginning to grow tired of the small portions of protein.

  
"What’s their story anyway?" Eugene asked.

  
"What do you mean?" Rick asked. Eugene knew their story, as much as the rest of the group knew anyway.

  
"You know, how does an old redneck like him get a girl like that. I know it’s the apocalypse and all but apocalypse or not they are an odd couple."

  
By this point the entire camp had tuned in to their conversation.

  
"Beth and Daryl are just friends," Carol said, she was still working, separating berries into rations, but it was a job she could do while the rest of the camp relaxed into conversation, "he’s protective of her".

  
"Like, friends with benefits though right?" Eugene asked.

Maggie chocked on a mouthful of water. “What the fuck Eugene?” she asked, once she’d managed to stop coughing, “he’s Daryl Dixon, he probably doesn’t even know what friends with benefits means, besides, that’s my baby sister you’re talking about.” Her tone was stern enough that most people would drop the topic immediately, but Eugene continued on.

"Last time I checked, friends do not eye fuck every time they see each other and his hands are on her an unnecessary amount," everyone was looking at Eugene with the same confused expression, "honestly I cannot be the only one who sees this."

"You’re crazy," Rosita joined the conversation, "we live in close quarters, people are touching each other all the time. Trust me, we would know if there was anything going on there. Worry about saving the world, Eugene, don’t try to understand relationships, they’ve never been your strong suit."  
Eugene shook his head. It was obvious to him, he was sure some other people would have noticed. The way he saw it, there was a big difference between the casual brushing of arms that occurred between every member of the group and the way his hand constantly found its way to her lower back, guiding her through doorways, forcing her in front of him as they waited for food, so she would always eat first. And she was constantly in his line of sight. It was a little concerning, honestly, that he was expected to guard the camps some nights, and instead of looking for walkers his gaze was constantly on her. And it wasn’t necessarily a sexual thing, he wasn’t always checking her out, he was just watching her, making sure she was safe. And it wasn’t reciprocated either, her eyes met his constantly, and when they did she would smile and he would blush. It was plain as day, it wasn’t like Eugene was particularly observant, it was just that it was completely obvious.

"Okay, so when was the last time Rambo taught any of you lot to hunt?" Eugene asked, "every time he mentions going hunting he invites her along for a lesson and I have never seen him do the same for any of us. Last I checked we should all know how to hunt, not just her."

The group sat in silence for a minute. Eugene had a valid point.

"She asked him to teach her," Maggie said, "no one else asked him, I’m sure if they did he would teach them too." 

Eugene was about to argue when Glenn opened his mouth to speak: “I asked him to teach me, he told me hunting with a gun is a waste of bullets and if I so much as touch his crossbow I’ll end up with an arrow up my ass.”

Most of the group laughed, while Maggie glared a Glenn, a look of betrayal on her face that he would side with Eugene on this argument. Eugene’s mouth contorted into a smug smile.

"See," he said, "wouldn’t even entertain the idea of teaching any of us to hunt, but Blondie asks for a lesson and suddenly they’re out all day every day. And I have never seen him let anyone touch that crossbow but her, and he is definitely teaching her to use it, most days she says she shot more squirrels than he did. Now tell me again how they’re just friends."

The group fell silent again. 

Five minutes ago the idea that Beth and Daryl could be anything more than friends had seemed absurd to Rick, but the more he thought about it, it did start to seem possible. In fact he could almost picture Daryl’s hand lingering just a little too long on her lower back and his eyes tracking her every move. He couldn’t remember the last time they hadn’t been sat next to each other while eating, which he’d always put down to them getting closer after the prison and him blaming himself for her kidnapping. But if he was honest, he still couldn’t work out an explanation for that one time he saw her sneaking out of Daryl’s tent early in the morning.

"No," Maggie said, shaking her head, "she’s my baby sister, she would have told me. Besides, when would they even get the chance. Glenn and I barely get a second to ourselves these days, if they were fooling around someone would have caught them by now."  
Eugene broke his eye contact with Maggie to stare at the woods where Daryl and Beth had disappeared earlier that day. “Where would they get the chance indeed,” he said, raising his eyebrows, 

"Are you suggesting my baby sister’s screwing a redneck in the middle of a Georgia forest?"

An hour ago the very idea that Beth and Daryl might be more than friends seemed absurd, now Eugene seemed to have half the camp convinced. 

Michonne, who had been guarding the perimeter and silently listening to the conversation, suddenly turned to face the trees, a noise catching her attention, hand ready on her sword. Daryl and Beth stumbled through a gap in the forest, Beth carrying a belt of squirrels and the crossbow while Daryl struggled with a large deer on his back, the two of them were laughing at something one of them had said. It was still unnatural to Rick, seeing Daryl laugh, it was such an infrequent thing to happen and reserved solely for when Beth was around. 

They immediately stopped when they noticed the eyes of the entire group on them.

"I shot a deer!" Beth said, excitedly, waiting for someone to congratulate her, but no one seemed to react.

"What’s everyone staring at?" Daryl asked, looking at the group.

Michonne spoke for the first time that afternoon, “Eugene has this wild theory you guys are doing more than just hunting in the woods all day.”

"The hell are you talking about?" Daryl asked, his usual gruff tone back in his voice.

"I was just postulating that you two might be having some fun in the forest, intercourse style," Eugene said bluntly.

Daryl’s face turned as red as a firetruck while Beth just laughed awkwardly. 

"Eugene do you have some drugs stashed we don’t know about?" She asked, "Daryl and I are just friends, and as his friend I would appreciate you not embarrassing him with your crazy ideas."

Beth was right, Rick thought to himself, it was crazy. Beth and Daryl were friends, nothing more. They had just got a little carried away with speculation. Daryl awkwardly ducked his head and deposited the deer on a table, distracting himself the process of making it ready to eat.

An hour later and a big meal in everyone’s stomachs and everyone seemed to have forgotten about the discussion or accepted that Eugene was just crazy. After all, there was no way two members of their group could be hiding such a big secret.

But Eugene watched as Daryl looked at Beth, the fire light flickering on their faces, and pointed subtly to her chest, and Eugene noticed as Beth looked down at a reddish bruise just under her collarbone, and watched as she adjusted her shirt to cover it up. And he knew he didn’t imagine Beth winking at Daryl as she did so, and Daryl’s lips smirking just a little bit as she did. 

"Nice to have a proper meal for once, venison’s definitely nicer than squirrels" Rick said, "thanks guys," he said, nodding to Daryl and Beth.

"No problem," Beth replied, "it was our pleasure."

"Yeah, what do you say Greene, hunting lesson again tomorrow, find another deer," Daryl asked.

Beth smiled up at him, a glimmer in her eyes, “sounds good to me, Mr. Dixon.”  
  
Eugene laughed to himself. The rest of them may have been oblivious, but her certainly was not. ‘Just friends’ indeed.


End file.
